Author Topic: New to flying a spinnaker  (Read 2381 times)

SailRxSin

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New to flying a spinnaker
« on: June 15, 2021, 05:33:13 PM »
Hello,
We just got out our symmetrical spinnaker and will be learning how to use it soon. There are no blocks that I can see to run the sheets through to the secondary winches. Does anyone have any pictures of their current set up they could share.  If you can't load them here, send them to me at sailrxsin@gmail.com.
Sincerely,
Skipper & Cindy
RxSin
Hull 353, 1982 323
Grapevine, TX

selene

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Re: New to flying a spinnaker
« Reply #1 on: June 16, 2021, 02:12:36 AM »
I am probably  not going to be much help, as I only have one pair of winches (no secondaries) and fly asym. But a kite is a sweet sail with the right wind angle - and strength!

FWIW, I ended up drilling holes in the boat (!) to mount a couple of turning blocks on each side towards the stern. I also added another couple of blocks on the jib track (Garhauer). The blocks were positioned to cross over to the winch on the opposite side - so the working sheet comes down to the leeward track block, back to the stern turning block, and across to the winch on the windward side. This normally works well for an asym as I sit on the windward side controlling the kite.

Hope this helps (somewhat)

Valor

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Re: New to flying a spinnaker
« Reply #2 on: August 05, 2021, 12:21:37 PM »
You currently have everything you need.

I have a set of secondary 40's I mounted as far back as possible and still allow the winch handle to work. I have an Asymmetrical, not a symmetrical spinnaker. As long as your kite isn't that fat, you will have a good working angle right to the winch. If you kite has a long foot you would need to mount a block as aft as possible to redirect the sheet back to the winch. In all honesty, for all of the additional work to mount the block 2 ft aft to redirect the sheet, you're really not gaining a whole lot of angle to the sheet line.  If you have a high flying clew and the sheet angle into the winch is steep, you can set up something simple like a barber hauler or a snatch block to keep the angle of the sheet into the winch a lot shallower.

Michael M

1978 Pearson 323 Hull #108.
Yanmar 3GM30F